I always dread writing to you this time of year because I usually loose a goodly number of people from my newsletter list. So be warned, if you want to stay on my list and continue to receive my emails then don't read on. But for those of you who are a little more adventurous I bid you an invite to continue on. Most of you know my stance on the Holidays. I am not a fan of the Christmas season. I find the hype and commercialism repulsive to me beyond what I can bare. It never ceases to amaze me that people continue year after fighting the same battle over and over again. The mission is the same defend the right to say Merry Christmas in the public arena, the preoccupation, putting up a kresh in the public square. Don't they know that just because the words Merry Christmas have been uttered it is not synonymous with preaching the Gospel? Why do we always take our fight to the wrong arena? All through the news we hear it "The war against Christmas". Since when did we ever hear the Lord ever say fight the good fight and defend Christmas? We were commanded to preach the word to be instant in season and out, 2Ti 4:2.

I would like to share with you some thoughts concerning the subject of whether or not we should even be celebrating Christmas at all. After I state my case you can either agree or disagree. But I will give you a Biblical argument that will stand or fall on its own merit.

It seems very clear in the scriptures that God instructed the Children of Israel in the way they were to relate to the peoples in the land that they were to inherit. We have every reason to believe that they were to avoid having anything to do with any of their practices. The scriptures are very clear with detailed instructions. There is no room for the imagination or the freedom to reinterpret what God said. Here are just a few references among the many. All scriptures are in the NSAV.

Num 33:50 Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying,Num 33:51 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,Num 33:52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;Num 33:53 and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.Num 33:54 'You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.Num 33:55 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.Num 33:56 'And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.'"

Deu 12:1 "These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth.Deu 12:2 "You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.Deu 12:3 "You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.Deu 12:4 "You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God.Deu 12:5 "But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.Deu 12:6 "There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.Deu 12:7 "There also you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

Deu 12:29 "When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,Deu 12:30 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?'Deu 12:31 "You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.Deu 12:32 "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.It seems to be pretty conclusive that the Lord wanted the Children of Israel to keep themselves totally separate from the pagan customs and rituals. They were not to combine, share, copy or worship in any manner similar to the pagans. The reason was because He had a place in which He would lead them to worship. This would be the Temple in Jerusalem, for as He said.Deu 12:5 "But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.Deu 12:6 "There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes,He had a place already chosen, a place where He would establish His name. No other place would do. The reason was that in this place He would set up a system that would be prophetic of the one to come. God will not share His glory with another.

Isa 42:8 "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.This is why we were not to combine His celebrations with any other celebration that was dedicated to a false God. This is what got the kings of Israel in trouble with God.

1Ki 12:26 Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.1Ki 12:27 "If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboamking of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah."1Ki 12:28 So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt." 1Ki 12:29 He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.1Ki 12:30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.1Ki 12:31 And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.1Ki 12:32 Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.1Ki 12:33 Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.Jeroboam of the Northern kingdom was determined to do all that he could to replace the Temple, feasts, the priests and eventually the God of Jacob with totally invented man made substitutes.Even Judah the Southern Kingdom, after the death of Rehoboam, fell into sin and eventually committed the same sin of worshiping in the High places.

1Ki 14:21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.1Ki 14:22 Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with the sins which they committed.1Ki 14:23 For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars andAsherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree.1Ki 14:24 There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.These High places were substitutes for the real place that God wanted the Children of Israel to worship. They were to have nothing to do with the substitute. These places were defiled with human sacrifice and sexual practices that were committed in dedication to their false gods. God was not willing to share His glory with anyone one, period, no exceptions.

1Ki 22:41 Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.1Ki 22:42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.1Ki 22:43 He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the LORD. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.Even though Jehoshaphat of Judah did some very good things the one thing he lacked was to totally tear down the high places, the same issue with Jehoash.

2Ki 12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.2Ki 12:2 Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in whichJehoiada the priest instructed him.2Ki 12:3 Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

There was just no wiggle room. God wanted those High places torn down. The Children of Israeljust wouldn’t do it. The church does the same thing and yet they refuse to see the parallel.Christmas, Easter, good Friday, Lent, Mondi Thursday, are all made up as substitutes for thereal Biblical events that were meant to be prophetic displays of the coming Messiah. There is nodifference, only a different century.

Substitutes are the trick of the enemy. Satan has tried to give us a substitute for everything God has given us.

From Smiths Bible Dictionary it defines the High Places.

High Places. (Hebrew, bamoth). From the top of Hermon to the crest of the low hills, all over the land, there are evidences that they were used for religious rites, both in idolatrous and in pure worship. The temple on Moriah was intended to supersede all other high places, and no other worship was allowed, except on special occasions.

From Easton’s Dictionary of the Bible.

High Place

An eminence, natural or artificial, where worship by sacrifice or offerings wasmade (1Ki_13:32; 2Ki_17:29). The first altar after the Flood was built on a mountain (Gen_8:20). Abraham also built an altar on a mountain (Gen_12:7, Gen_12:8). It was on a mountain in Gilead that Laban and Jacob offered sacrifices (Gen_31:54). After the Israelites entered the Promised Land they were strictly enjoined to overthrow the high places of the Canaanites (Exo_34:13; Deu_7:5; Deu_12:2, Deu_12:3), and they were forbidden to worship the Lord on high places (Deu_12:11-14), and were enjoined to use but one altar for sacrifices (Lev_17:3, Lev_17:4; Deut. 12; Deu_16:21). The injunction against high places was, however, very imperfectly obeyed, and we find again and again mention made of them (2Ki_14:4; 2Ki_15:4, 2Ki_15:35; 2Ch_15:17, etc.).

There does seem to be a very simple natural conclusion to be had here. God wasn’t going to tolerate any form of worship that wasn’t prescribed by Him.

Does Christmas with all of its tinsel and hype really celebrate the prophesied birth of the Messiah? I would be hard pressed to find any Biblical foundational elements in this holiday. I do however see the Messiah all through the holiday ofSukkot. We have replaced Sukkot the holiday which represents God dwelling among man for 40 years in the wilderness with Christmas. We have substituted the real for the contrived. Is there any difference with this and the practice that the children of Israel did in the scriptures above? If we were supposed to celebrate Christmas then why aren’t we celebrating Christmas or Easter in the millennial kingdom? Again, we have the problem of men trying to replace and usurp the things of God with a substitute that has no foundation. I find it very curious that we are going to celebrate Sukkot in the Millennium though.

Zec 14:16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

So without even going into the pagan roots of the Holiday it is pretty clear that the scripturesdeclare that there is a right and wrong way to celebrate and worship. This way would beprescribed by God and only He would reserve the right to do so. Now that you have the truth youwill have to ask yourself the question how will you deal with the Christmas holiday. Will it beyour substitute for the real Biblical celebrations?

Just so you will know I am not writing this to you in judgment of your salvation. This is not asalvation issue. It is however a Biblical mandate just like baptism. As Rav Shaul(Paul wrote).

1Co 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.

We know that we are not saved through Baptism, yet, we are commanded to participate in it. Bythe way Baptism is the Jewish ritual known as Mikva. Well, I think this would be a good place toend. I have made my point and I welcome your response. Just make sure it is Biblical and notyour opinion. I am willing to listen to all Biblical arguments. Ta ta for now and may you have ahappy, blessed, joyful, wait a minute I can’t say that can I? How about, may you grow more inlove with Yeshua and His word.

Shalom uvracha bYeshuaPeace and blessings in YeshuaHenry

PS:

Jer 10:1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.Jer 10:2 Thus says the LORD, "Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them;Jer 10:3 For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.Jer 10:4 "They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter.Jer 10:5 "Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good."

Author

Rabbi Henry Morse's ministry has taken him all over the world. He is an accomplished speaker, author, trained acrobat, and physical comedian. In addition to the active and growing congregation in Stoughton, MA, he and his wife Cherri helped launch a messianic congregation in Hilo Hawaii in 2011.